From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Tapeworm \Tape"worm`\, n. (Zool.)
Any one of numerous species of cestode worms belonging to
Taenia and many allied genera. The body is long, flat, and
composed of numerous segments or proglottids varying in
shape, those toward the end of the body being much larger and
longer than the anterior ones, and containing the fully
developed sexual organs. The head is small, destitute of a
mouth, but furnished with two or more suckers (which vary
greatly in shape in different genera), and sometimes, also,
with hooks for adhesion to the walls of the intestines of the
animals in which they are parasitic. The larvae (see
{Cysticercus}) live in the flesh of various creatures, and
when swallowed by another animal of the right species develop
into the mature tapeworm in its intestine. See Illustration
in Appendix.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Three species are common parasites of man: the {pork
tapeworm} ({Taenia solium}), the larva of which is
found in pork; the {beef tapeworm} ({Taenia
mediocanellata}), the larva of which lives in the flesh
of young cattle; and the {broad tapeworm}
({Bothriocephalus latus}) which is found chiefly in the
inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Europe and
Asia. See also {Echinococcus}, {Cysticercus},
{Proglottis}, and 2d {Measles}, 4.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
tapeworm
n 1: ribbonlike flatworms that are parasitic in the intestines
of humans and other vertebrates [syn: {tapeworm},
{cestode}]
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